Denmark’s parliament just passed a law that makes it legal to seize refugees’ valuable possessions

A group of migrants, coming off an incoming train, are seen next to police on the platform at the Swedish end of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark, in Hyllie district, Malmo Thomson Reuters The Danish parliament passed a hugely controversial bill on Tuesday that aims to deter people from seeking asylum in Denmark.

The bill includes delaying family reunification for up to three years and seizing refugees' possessions that are worth more than 10,000 Danish krone (£1,000/$1,430). The measures have been criticised by human rights groups and opponents in Denmark have compared it to the confiscating of valuables from Jews during the Second World War.

Danish authorities insist, according to the BBC, that the measures are being put in place to "bring migrants in line" with unemployed Danes who have to sell their possessions that are worth a certain amount in order to claim benefits.

The bill was largely expected to be voted in as many of Denmark's politicians are following right-wing tendencies amid rising concern over refugee numbers, Reuters reports. Denmark took in 20,000 refugees last year as the refugee crisis, fuelled by war in the Middle East, triggered waves of anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe.

Other Nordic countries are experiencing similar situations. Norway has been trying to send back refugees who crossed over from Russia and Sweden has re-introduced border checks at on its border with Denmark. The killing of a refugee centre employee in a Swedish town also prompted the prime minister to promise police more resources.

Switzerland is the only other European country that officially seize valuables and cash from refugees, although Reuters reported that the German region of Baden-Württemberg also takes prized possession that are worth more than €350 (£265) and that some southern states have been rumoured to do the same. Denmark's Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen and Denmark's Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg give a news conference after a meeting on the new Danish asylum laws at the European Parliament's civil liberties committee in Brussels, Belgium, January 25, 2016. Reuters Bohuslav Sobotka, the Czech prime minister called for a meeting with Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland on February 15, three days before the EU summit on the migration crisis.

The Czech and Slovak prime ministers have on Tuesday also called for the EU to be ready with a new plan to secure its external borders until Greece can do more to stem the flow of refugees coming into the bloc. In 2016, over 40,000 people arrived to Europe through Greece.

Greece has blasted the European Union over the notion they might be excluded from the Schengen zone if they did not stem the migrant flow.

Last week, the Austrian Interior Minister warned that Greece might be temporarily excluded from the Schengen zone although European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud quickly stepped in, telling AFP: "We have never discussed either a suspension or exclusion. The possibility does not exist."

The EU did on Monday come close to agreeing to the extension of temporary border controls for an additional two years if no significant progress was made to tackle the migrant crisis over the coming weeks.